Not applicable to this application.
Not applicable to this application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to plant transplanting devices and more specifically it relates to a tree spade system capable of excavating large and heavy plants and transporting them while locking the system into place to prevent damage to the vehicle and plant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tree transplanting systems have been in use for years. Typically, these systems include a vehicle with a digging apparatus attached to a tilting and lifting mechanism. The vehicle is positioned next to the tree which is to be removed and the tilting mechanism tilts the digging apparatus off the end of the vehicle. The digging apparatus is typically comprised of four spoon shaped curved blades each attached to a single hydraulic cylinder. These tree transplanting systems allow for the blades to be positioned around the plant to be removed and then forced into the ground surrounding the plant. The systems are designed so that the four blades are drawn together to sever the roots of the plant and to draw up sufficient soil to create a root ball surrounding the severed roots. A lifting mechanism lifts the digging apparatus with the blades and plant out of the ground. The digging apparatus, with the uprooted plant, is tilted back upon the vehicle and the plant transported to a new location for planting.
There are numerous problems within the prior art surface when moving larger trees. With current systems the bigger the tree the bigger the digging apparatus needs to become. The section of the digging apparatus for holding the blades has to be proportionally increased to correspond to the increase in size of the hydraulic cylinders necessary to drive the larger blades required for removing a larger tree. This increase in size creates an apparatus too large to fit on a standard commercially available vehicle. In addition, as the apparatus becomes larger it correspondingly becomes proportionally unsafe, as it is increasingly difficult to maintain the digging apparatus and tree in position relative to the vehicle when the vehicle is moving. When the tree to be moved includes numerous low growing branches this larger digging apparatus requires numerous lower branches to be removed so that the system can be moved into position and utilized.
Examples of patented devices which may be related to the present invention include U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,941 to Weeks; U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,427 to Dahlquist; U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,904 to Bowling; U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,336 to Vos; U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,398 to Lemond et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,364,601 to Korenek; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,416 to Johnson.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for providing a vehicle-mounted system capable of excavating large and heavy plants and transporting them while locking the system into place to prevent damage to the vehicle and plant. With these systems, as the plant that is to be transported becomes larger, the digging apparatus for placing the blades into place becomes too large for practical use. The digging apparatus will not fit on standard commercially available vehicles and the vehicle would become unsafe to drive.
In these respects, the tree spade system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a vehicle-mounted system capable of excavating large and heavy plants without requiring the lower branches to be removed and transporting the plants while locking the system into place to prevent damage to the vehicle and plant
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of tree transplanting systems now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new tree spade system construction wherein the same can be utilized for providing a vehicle-mounted system capable of excavating large and heavy plants and transporting them while locking the system into place to prevent damage to the vehicle and plant.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new tree spade system that has many of the advantages of the tree transplanting systems mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new tree spade system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art tree transplanting systems, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a vehicle with a tilting mechanism, lifting mechanism, digging apparatus and locking mechanism. The digging apparatus utilizes dual hydraulic cylinders to draw the digging blades into the soil surrounding the plant to be removed and transported. The digging apparatus is designed with the lowest profile possible to minimize the removal of lower branches from the plant to be transported. When the digging apparatus is lifted and tilted back upon the vehicle the system has a unique locking mechanism for holding the digging apparatus into place for safe transport.
The vehicle, lifting mechanism and tilting mechanism can utilize current, standard, commercially available systems. The digging apparatus and securing method are unique innovations to currently available plant transplanting and transportation systems.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a tree spade system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
A second object is to provide a tree spade system for providing a vehicle-mounted system capable of excavating large and heavy plants and transporting them while locking the system into place to prevent damage to the vehicle and plant.
Another object is to provide a tree spade system that fits on commercially available vehicles.
An additional object is to provide a tree spade system that uses multiple hydraulic cylinders per blade.
A further object is to provide a tree spade system that is safe to operate.
Another object is to provide a tree spade system that pulls the blades into the ground.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.